Singing with Crows explores the intersections of religion with politics and with our common life.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Speaking Truth to Power

This recollection dates from June 2003. I'm posting it now in solidarity with all the Sisters who will be gathering next week in St. Lewis to discern a path forward for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. May they be wise and strong in continuing their witness of speaking truth to power.

The good
news came in an email message, as so much news does these days.My friend Willie would not be going to
prison.It’s not that she was not
prepared to do so.In fact, she and her
co-defendants had already refused one plea bargain that could have let them off
with just a fine, insisting instead on a trial that could well result in jail
time of up to a year for each of them.As she explained to us a few days before her court appearance, accepting
a fine or community service would involve admitting that what they had done was
wrong, and not one of them believed that.They were determined to be imprisoned for their witness to truth in the
face of military might rather than to deny their beliefs.

“Willie” is
Sr. William Julie Hurley, a sixty-something Sister of Notre Dame who has
devoted her life to work with the poor and marginalized of society.Whether it is teaching in southern Africa,
serving in prison ministry, or coordinating hospice support for people living
with AIDS, she brings a large measure of compassion, caring, and impish good
humor to her work.Today she teaches
seniors at Lowell Catholic High, a poor school trying to provide quality
education for inner-city youth.

So what was
it that brought her to trial on May 20th, and had the rest of us in
the Atlantic New England Region of the O Beautiful Gaia Project worried that
one of our best “bass” singers would be unable to join us in the recording
studio later this month?In March, a few
days after the beginning of the most recent US-Iraq war, the Peace Abbey in
Sherborn, Massachusetts, organized a demonstration at the U.S. Army Soldier
Biological and Chemical Command in Natick, MA.Willie, along with seventeen other committed people of faith, knelt in
front of the gate of this high-security installation, recited prayers for peace
representing twelve major faith groups world-wide, and then joined themselves
together with short lengths of chain link, symbolically blocking the entrance
to what is believed to be the coordination center for the United States’
chemical and biological weapons program.They were immediately arrested and charged with trespassing on federal
property.

One of the
reasons the Peace Chain 18, as they came to be called, insisted on a trial was
their determination to give public witness to their beliefs and motives for
opposing the war and the US weapons industry.Having chosen to represent themselves rather than having legal counsel
present, each was permitted five minutes to make a statement to the court.

At the end
of our rehearsal on Sunday, May 18th, we singers of the O Beautiful
Gaia Project gathered in a circle to offer our prayers, blessings, and support
to Willie in the days ahead.As she read
to us the statement that she had prepared for her testimony, an intense hush
filled the room.She described the day
fifty years ago when a courier in military uniform knocked on the door of her
family’s home and read a telegram informing them that her older brother had
been killed in action in Korea.In the
words of her statement, she realized then that “War means DEATH.It solves nothing.I pledged myself then to work for a peaceful
world.”

Her
testimony continues by detailing all the steps that she had taken in the months
building up to the most recent war, writing letters and making phone calls,
traveling to mass rallies and participating in local protests.When the bombing began, she grieved for all
the deaths on both sides, for the injured and for those who lost loved ones in
the conflict.“But more so, I grieved
for the soul of this nation that is so desensitized that it can consider the
lives of our so-called enemies as mere collateral damage.”

Convinced
that the war was illegal, immoral, and unjust, and recognizing that in a
democracy all are responsible for what is done in our names, Willie joined with
a community of like-minded peacemakers to protest at the gates of the Natick
lab.The eighteen range in age from 20
to 66 and include members of a number of Christian denominations along with
several Buddhists.Willie’s deep
Christian faith was vividly apparent in the conclusion of her statement.She had been reading to us up to this point,
but as she started to recite the familiar words of Jesus from the Sermon on the
Mount, she dropped the page to her side and spoke directly from her heart to
our circle: “I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
pray for those who persecute you.”

We are all,
I fear, guilty at times of sitting in church and listening with only half an
ear as the scripture lessons are read.By contrast, hearing this text from the Gospel of Matthew in such a
context was riveting.I don’t think that
I was the only one with tears in my eyes.I thought of the man who first spoke those words, how he was executed by
the military force occupying his country, and I wondered what would happen to
my friend Willie in the days ahead.

What did
happen gives me hope for the future of truth-telling and justice in our
land.As reported by Ann, another
member of the O Beautiful Gaia Project, so many supporters from the peace
community arrived at Natick District Court to witness the trial that the
courtroom could not hold them all.They
divided into groups and took turns listening in the courtroom during a full day
of testimony.Presiding Judge Sarah
Singer heard not only the statements of all eighteen defendants, but also
allowed testimony from Dr. Michael True, an expert witness on the nature and
history of non-violence, and from George Capaccio of Voices in the Wilderness
and from a Paulist priest who served as character witnesses.

At the end
of the day, the Judge responded by observing that she was very impressed with
the values and sincerity of each of the defendants.She then explained that her sole duty was to
rule on the charge of trespass, and that based on the uncontested facts of the case,
she had to find them guilty of trespassing on federal land.The prosecutor, when asked by the judge to
suggest a sentence, responded that his recommendation was a $500.00 fine for
each defendant.The judge then ruled
that each defendant was to pay a $50.00 fine or do ten hours of community
service.

The voices
that advocate war and call for a violent solution to every conflict may appear
to be the loudest just now.But in every
time of trial God raises up other voices, such as those of Sister Willie and
her companions in the Peace Chain 18, to speak truth to power and to witness to
the way of peace.We are richly blessed
to have such people in our midst.

Footnote: After a gallant struggle with breast cancer, Sister Willie passed from this world to the next in early July 2007. To the end her wit and determination, her joyful and loving presence, were an inspiration to all who knew her. Here's a link to a beautiful memorial writtensoon after her death: Willie, S.N.D.

About Me

My interest in religions of the world was awakened by early reading of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology; nurtured by classes in literature, comparative religion, and cultural anthropology at Susquehanna University; and expanded and refined during the decade that I spent earning an MAR at Lancaster Theological Seminary. While standing firmly in the progressive Protestantism of the present-day Moravian Church, I welcome opportunities for ecumenical and interfaith interaction.
My commitment to peacemaking and justice advocacy has guided my entire adulthood. My love of music and participation in music-making are life-long passions.
Most of the articles posted here were published originally in my regular column "Musings" for our local newspaper.